"You're going after a market that's wide open and hasn't been addressed yet," Milman said. Components prices are cheap, so it is possible for a vendor to build such a PC, he said.

Really? Untapped? At $279, how much are their customers really saving? I had my last laptop for 4 years, but by the end it was in rough shape. If you figure these customers keep their laptops for three years, that's $819 total. You've gotta be better off financing a $1,000 laptop for three years...or buying a $500 laptop for cash.

This is to say nothing of the fact that all their value adds could all be had for free pretty easily.